Hot Dish

CHEFS IN SKIRTS From Providence Cicero's rapturous account in last Wednesday's Seattle Times, you'd think all America will soon be switching on the TV to watch Seattle chefs Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau eating out dressed in hula skirts and leis. Alas, not even the Food Network finances a cooking series on bizarre concept alone. Network execs are waiting to see a pilot shot at Kerry Sears' Cascadia last weekend before buying a season's worth of Spy Chefs. The show concept, developed by Elizabeth Brock's Ballard-based 175 Productions, involves sending the Dahlia Lounge and Rovers chefs to celebrated restaurants in disguise, then (no longer in drag, presumably) into the kitchen to re-create their meals from memory. It'll be interesting to see how they deal with disguising the film crew—as potted plants, maybe? SUMMER AT SERAFINA Serafina owner Susan Kaufman and chef John Neumark came back home energized from vacations in (respectively) Tuscany and Spain, and the results are on the current menu of their Eastlake restaurant. Find out why European tuna's better with a new salad that also features Spanish white anchovies, egg, and organic Willy Green baby lettuce ($7.95/$11.95 lunch, $8.25 dinner); verdure misto (market price) is an antipasti of marinated vegetables (different daily) tossed with a sauce of roasted red peppers and almonds. Weekday lunch celebrates the restaurant's 11th anniversary with an $11 daily special that includes a glass of organic chianti. 2043 Eastlake E., 323-0807. CHEAP EATS Healthy cooking on a budget can be tough: Get tips from experts at the Neighborhood Farmers Markets, where all summer long leading chefs will be showing how to shop and prepare ingredients for a main dish for four for under $10. This week Union Square Grill's Jeremy Anderson accepts the challenge at 10 a.m. Saturday at the University Heights Market; Sunday at 11 a.m., the Saffron Cow's Jon Cook shows folks in West Seattle how it's done; and Robin Leventhal from Deux Tamales rustles the grub in Columbia City on Wednesday, July 24, at 4 p.m. For info on the whole program, call Chris or Karen at 632-5234. LAST WORD When local child-care advocates filed an initiative to tax espresso beverages to fund their programs, we thought Seattle had finally taken the lead in the silly-citizenship sweepstakes. But Berkeley has, once again, nosed us out: If an initiative filed there last month passes, it will be illegal to sell any whole-bean coffee within the city limits that doesn't bear the politically correct Fair Trade label. Food and/or beverage news? E-mail Hot Dish at food@seattleweekly.com.